On the eve of a recent Earth fly-by courtesy of the asteroid known as 2012 DA14, physics professor Philip M. Lubin and a Cal Poly researcher unveiled their proposal for a system that could eliminate a threat of this size — half as large as a football field, with energy equal to a large hydrogen bomb — in an hour. The same system could destroy asteroids 10 times larger than 2012 DA14 in about a year, with evaporation starting at a distance as far away as the Sun. READ MORE (UCSB Featured News)

Concept drawing of the DE-STAR system engaging both an asteroid for evaporation or composition analysis, and simultaneously propelling an interplanetary spacecraft.
Courtesy Philip M. Lubin